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Summary
Summary
In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything --and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.
Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn't know the passengers inside, but they're the only people who won't judge her when she asks them her most personal questions . . . like what it means that she's falling in love with a girl. As her secret relationship becomes more intense and her friends demand answers, Astrid has nowhere left to turn. She can't share the truth with anyone except the people at thirty thousand feet, and they don't even know she's there. But little does Astrid know just how much even the tiniest connection will affect these strangers' lives--and her own--for the better.
Author Notes
A. S. (Amy Sarig) King is an award-winning author of both YA and adult fiction. She was born on March 10, 1970, in Reading, PA., and obtained a degree in traditional photography from the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
King wrote her first novel in 1994, but it took her 15 years and more than seven novels to finally get published. Since then, her books have garnered many accolades. Ask the Passengers won the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Award for Young Adult Literature. Please Ignore Vera Dietz was a 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, an Edgar Award Nominee, a Junior Library Guild selection and a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Her first YA novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Cybil Award finalist.
Her other titles include: I Crawl Through it, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, Reality Boy, and Everybody Sees the Ants. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous collections and anthologies, including: Monica Never Shuts up, One Death, Nine stories, Losing It, Break These Rules, and Dear Bully.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The philosophical searching, surprising spiritual guides, and powerful observations of contemporary life that characterize previous works by King (Everybody Sees the Ants) are in full evidence in a story that's at once much more than a coming-out novel and one of the best coming-out novels in years. High school senior Astrid Jones moved from New York City to Unity Valley, Pa., with her family years ago, but it still doesn't feel like home. Astrid isn't comfortable labeling herself gay ("I'm not in this to be a member of some club. I'm not going through this so I can lock myself in the one of them box"), and the community's homophobia and aggressive rumor mill weigh heavily on her. When several secrets become public, Astrid's relationships are further strained, and she copes by silently sending love to the passengers of airplanes flying overhead (whose brief stories indicate they can sense Astrid's questions and feel the love she unleashes) and carrying on imaginary conversations with Socrates. Funny, provocative, and intelligent, King's story celebrates love in all of its messy, modern complexity. Ages 15-up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Astrid would be the quintessential Q-for-Questioning girl in her high school's LGBTQ support group if her small-town, small-minded school had such a thing -- and the gay question is only one of many weighing her down. When her humanities teacher explains that learning the Socratic method "will be a time of asking questions and not rushing to answer thema time of thinking and not knowing," Astrid muses, "Perfect for meI am the not knowing queen." Socrates himself starts making periodic appearances, visible only to Astrid (who calls him Frank). Frequently driven outside by her nuthouse of a family, Astrid reclines on a picnic table and watches airplanes. She sends her questions and her love (because "it feels good to love a thing and not expect anything back") to the passengers; each time, readers get a glimpse of a passenger's own struggle with the question Astrid has asked -- plus his or her satisfying epiphany, reached after experiencing a sudden sensation of love. As in Printz Honor recipient King's previous novels, including Everybody Sees the Ants (rev. 1/12), these moments not only add humor to the book's societal critique but also provide vivid images that heighten the story's emotion. Astrid ultimately decides not to live a lie, as her closeted best friend Kristina has done for years, but wonders whether she can handle people's reactions; she can (evident when she introduces girlfriend Dee to her family), and the book ends with Astrid's skyward message to a young lesbian being flown to "gay conversion camp": "Stay strong." It's a fine conclusion to a furiously smart and funny coming-out-and-of-age novel. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Astrid has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely to schoolmates, friends, and even her dysfunctional family. But most of all, she sends her love to the passengers in the planes whizzing high above her small, gossipy, intolerant town: Because if I give it all away, no one can control it. But she does love her coworker Dee and her best friend Christina, whose biggest secret she keeps. Printz Honor Book author King (Please Ignore Vera Dietz, 2010) continues to expertly plumb the lovely numbness of a young person struck by emotional paralysis. Afraid to come out, afraid to be boxed in, and afraid to fall under the scrutiny of her town, Astrid lives a rich inner life, which King depicts with deft magical realist conventions that recall Everybody Sees the Ants (2011). Astrid's consciousness is exemplified by Socrates, an agent of truth and logic who silently judges her for not owning up to her personal truths. King also incorporates the first-person narrations of the passengers in the planes, whose stories unknowingly parallel and carry Astrid's affections and desire for escape. Another thoughtful, and often breathtaking, achievement for King, whose star is ascending as quickly as one of Astrid's planes.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-High school senior Astrid Jones is more than ready to leave the small town of Unity Valley, PA, and return to New York City. While her mother works obsessively from her home office, her father smokes pot in the garage, and her sister lives out the life of a small-town girl, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table sending her love and her questions to the passengers of the planes she sees overhead. They are the only ones she can confide in about the secrets she keeps: the truth about her best friends, Kristina and Justin, and their picture-perfect relationship; how she really feels about the growing distance between herself and her family; and her attraction to her co-worker, Dee, who is an out lesbian. The planes' passengers can't answer her questions, but Astrid turns to them as her separate worlds collide and ugly truths spill out. Devon Sorvari gives a pitch-perfect reading and her voice is the ideal complement to the dry wit of Astrid's first-person narrative. More than just another coming-out story, King's novel (Little Brown, 2012) offers thought-provoking philosophical questions that teens will ponder well after finishing the novel.-Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Big-town girl stuck in a small-town world full of lies falls for another girl. Astrid's parents moved both her and her sister away from their New York City home years ago to a small town symbolically called Unity Valley. Since then her mom has drunk the society Kool-Aid, and her dad takes mental vacations in the garage to smoke weed. Astrid doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere. Two friends keep her sane: her closeted BFF, Kristina, and Dee, a star hockey player she met while working for a local catering company. Sparks fly between Astrid and Dee, causing Astrid to feel even more distanced and confused. Meanwhile, Kristina and her boyfriend/beard Justin use Astrid as cover for their own same-sex sweethearts, adding more fuel to the fire. King has created an intense, fast-paced, complex and compelling novel about sexuality, politics and societal norms that will force readers outside their comfort zones. The whole towneven the alleged gay charactersbuy into the Stepford-like ideal, and King elegantly uses Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" to help readers understand life inside and outside of the box. Only Astrid knows what she wants. She's in love with Dee, but she's not sure if she's a lesbian. She's ignoring all of the labels and focusing on what she feels. Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years. (Fiction. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.